 The match was played at Wembley Stadium. | |||||||
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| Date | 25 May 2009 | ||||||
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| Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
| Referee | Mike Dean (Wirral) | ||||||
| Attendance | 80,518 | ||||||
| Weather | Sunny | ||||||
The 2009 Football League Championship play-off final was an association football match which was played on 25 May 2009 at Wembley Stadium, London, between Burnley and Sheffield United. The match was to determine the third and final team to gain promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, to the Premier League. The top two teams of the 2008–09 Football League Championship season gained automatic promotion to the Premier League, while the clubs placed from third to sixth place in the table partook in play-off semi-finals; Sheffield United ended the season in third position while Burnley finished fifth. The winners of these semi-finals competed for the final place for the 2009–10 season in the Premier League.
The 2009 final, refereed by Mike Dean, was watched by a crowd of more than 80,000 people. Burnley won 1–0, with the only goal of the game coming from Wade Elliott in the first half. Substitute Jamie Ward was sent off in the second half following two deliberate handballs, while his teammate Lee Hendrie was also dismissed after the final whistle. Victory for Burnley meant they returned to top flight football for the first time in 33 years.
Burnley ended the next season in 18th place in the Premier League and were relegated back to the Championship. Sheffield United finished the following season in 8th place, five points outside the play-offs.